Piñatas are popular, especially among children, at parties and other festive occasions. Piñata-breaking celebrations are quite popular in Mexico and in the Mexican-American communities of the Southwestern United States. Piñatas are traditionally a pot or container ornamented with colorful paper and filled with candy, nuts, confetti, and/or token gifts such as small toys and the like. The container is suspended from above and the children, while blindfolded, take turns attempting to puncture the container with a bat or other implement to release the treats within. The traditional piñata is made of clay pottery. More recently, piñatas are constructed of paper mache or other frangible material and generally include a bottom paper closure which is torn or broken by the child pulling a cord or similar attachment secured to the closure, or otherwise breaking the closure.
Typical mass-produced piñatas are constructed of paper mache and assume their full form prior to shipping. The piñata may be filled with treats, but are more commonly sold empty. The hollow paper mache construction of the piñata is relatively fragile and susceptible to breakage during shipping and handling.
A general problem with piñatas in the past is that their large and unusual sizes make shipping expensive.
A need exists for an expandable piñata that may be shipped in a small, flat, two-dimensional configuration and may later be expanded into a large piñata for use at the party or other festive occasion.